Day 16: A Wife's Duty
Day 16: A Wife's Duty is the 16th chapter in the Midori Days Manga and the 6th chapter of the second volume. Summary Due to Rin filling the water jug with tequila, Seiji passes out drunk. Midori decides to use the day to catch up on housework, but quickly finds several problems that pile up, including a burglar. Plot Seiji comes home, absolutely exhausted. He states that he may not have slept in two days, but the makeup exams are finally over. Midori gets him a glass of water from the water jug, however Seiji spits it out after swallowing some. He asks what it was she gave him, and they both notice Rin left a message on the watwer jug: "Tequila, drink it and I'll kill you. <3 Rin". After just a few moments, Seiji passes out drunk. It then goes to a splash page with an annoyed Seiji and Midori holding a tiny mop with an apron and headband. Midori is at the sink, noting to herself that with Seiji unconscious, it's the best time to get caught up on chores around the house. She drags Seiji to and fro, cleaning the house and getting things done. Despite his face being drug across the floor with a loud "SKRRCH" sound effect, he doesn't wake up and naps through the whole thing. Eventually, having finished everything, she lays Seiji down to rest, and decides to watch television. As she chews on a rice ball, she notes how bored she is, and wonders if this is the life of a housewife. She imagines herself separate from Seiji, and the two are wed. She thinks about him coming home late from work, possibly even getting drunk with coworkers or friends, and arriving home. He smiles and laughs, and notes he can drink because Midori takes such great care of him. She laughs as well, stating she is his wife after all, and Seiji gets up, tring to give Midori a silly kiss, which she laughs about as she jokingly asks him to stop. Somehow her daydream fills her with determination, and she decides that, until Seiji awakens, she must hold down the household and protect the home, it is the duty of the housewife. As she wonders what to do, she looks at Seiji, who is fast asleep. She decides to come in and try to steal a kiss in his sleep, but is startled out of it as the phone rings. She rushes over to the phone and picks it up, saying hello. Osamu, who appears to be on the other end, is shocked to hear a girl pick up the phone. A guy who is with Osamu on the other end also expresses shock at the idea of Seiji's phone being answered by a girl. She panics as she questions why she hastily answered the phone, and decides to pretend she is Seiji with a cold. She calls Osamu an idiot and goes with her bluff, however Osamu doesn't seem to be buying it and questions why his voice would get higher with a cold. Osamu decides to tell Seiji that he got his "item". Midori wonder what it is, and Osamu admits he's gotten the third video in a pornography series for him starring Miruku. She loudly proclaims "NOT FOR ME" and hangs up the phone. As she sits there, flustered, she reassures herself Seiji would never watch anything like that. As she says that, she hears Seiji mutters Miruku's name. This seems to tell Midori it's in the house somewhere, and she needs to find and throw it out. As she begins to do so, she hears someone come in the house. The man states he's from "Pizza Samurai", and has a delivery. Midori, confused, shouts out of the room that they never ordered pizza. The pizza man seems confused and somewhat worried, noting he'll be in trouble if someone doesn't buy it. Midori comes to the conclusion that she has to pay for it, even if it is a mistake. At the same time, she doesn't know where Seiji even keeps the money. She searches for a bit before heading to the front door. Unfortunately, rather than lifting Seiji up, she drags him across the floor which makes him look extremely creepy, and his glazed over eyes do not help. Midori, trying to imitate Seiji, tries to tell the pizza man that they don't have any money, however the pizza man, scared out of his wits by the terrifying image before him, simply bolts from the house. Before they can get off of the front carpet, another person enters the house. This time it's a woman, and she's selling door-to-door english books. She tries to help Seiji (who is still laying on the floor), however Midori grabs the back of Seiji's collar and holds him in a sitting position. She tries to imitate him again and plays it off as "dozing". The woman tries to sell her pitch to Seiji that the books can help him learn english at high speed, and that she even has a skill test to get him exactly what he needs. Midori tries to politely refuse while imitating Seiji, saying his parents are from the U.S. so he knows english. In the middle of her lie, she accidentally drops Seiji, causing his head to crack against the wooden floor. She lifts him back up, and the woman is horrified at the blood dribbling from his head. She then asks the woman to leave as they do not need the books. The scene shifts to much later that night. Midori, who appears to be exhausted, has moved Seiji to his room. She hits the lights and gets both Seiji and herself into bed. She notes it is early, but is just too exhausted to continue. As she gets ready to sleep, she notices someone in the room. After a brief moment, she realizes it's not only a stranger, but a burglar. The burgalr walks by Seiji and notices he's alseep. Apparently having assumed nobody was home (possibly because it was still kind of early in the evening), he's surprised, but also figures if he's quick and out before Seiji wakes up, he'll be fine. Midori tries to think, but isn't sure what to do. She fears that if she calls for help, Seiji will be seriously injured or killed by the burglar. She thinks it would be safer to just let him rob the place, however she then immadietly changes her mind as the same detertmination from earlier in the day hits her. She must defend the house as the job of a housewife. She loudly screams "MIDORI ATTACK", however the burglar, on guard, swiftly dodges the punch. Assuming Seiji to have woken up, the burglar pulls out a stun gun, and shocks Seiji with it, hoping to knock Seiji out and put him back in slumber land. While it may have injured the sleeping Seiji, Midori continues her assault and literally throws Seiji at the burglar. Midori then proceeds to pummel the burglar who begs to be let go. Seiji awakens the following morning. He notes that Rin's Tequila has a powerful kick to it. As he awakens, Seiji is shocked to see the house in shambles. Midori weakly says she had to "keep it safe". Seiji, confused and worried as to why should would have wrecked the house to keep it safe, looks down at the exhausted Midori. As the final panel shows a totally exhausted Midori, the caption reads: "With Seiji awake at last... Midori can take a break from her duties... until later!" Notes *The movie that Osamu got for Seiji was "Up to Bat, Part 3" starring Miruku Moriyama. *The Pizza Samurai delivery man has the words "Pizza Samurai" on his apron, along with an image of two crossed swords, and the word "Harakiri" underneath it. *The english woman works for the "XYZ Teacher Fund". *When Midori imagines Seiji getting stabbed, she seems to assume the burglar is carrying a Sai. *At one point Midori fears the burglar is going to "rob" them. Technically, by legal definition, the burglar was not robbing, but stealing, as robbery requires the use of force or intimidation and to have a present victim that is aware they are going to be robbed. The burglar not only didn't know Midori was there, but didn't resort to force until ''after ''he assumed Seiji woke up, upon which it may have become a robbery instead of a a burglary with intent to commit larceny. Category:Manga Chapters Category:Volume 2